A pervasive fear of having bad breath or an exaggerated fear of having halitosis. Some people afflicted with halitophobia avoid social activities and live in a state of self-enforced solitude.

When dealing with the problem of halitosis or with the halitosis patient, it is important to distinguish between "genuine halitosis" and "pseudo-halitosis".

"Genuine halitosis" can be verified when the breath malodor is an actual problem that can be easily diagnosed either by organoleptic or by physic-chemical processes. "Pseudo-halitosis" exists when the oral malodor does not exist, although the patient is convinced that he or she has it.

If, after successful treatment for either genuine halitosis or pseudo-halitosis, the patient still believes that he or she has halitosis, then the diagnosis is termed halitophobia.

This simple classification system includes corresponding treatment requirements and allows the clinician to differentiate between a pathological and a psychological condition.

The revulsion or dread of salt or of salty food: Being strongly affected by halophobia, Thomas detested sodium chloride with his meals and so he didn't have it on the table and just ate fruit and vegetables without the extra seasoning.

An excessive dread of committing a wrongdoing or an unpardonable sin, or of doing the wrong thing and being condemned for it: Those who have this harmatophobia may fear one of several types of errors, including "memory errors", which are not the same thing as "forgetting"; false recollections; accidents, as while driving a car; or minor accidents, as when spilling things or when dropping something.

In grief we know the worst of what we feel,
But who can tell the end of what we fear?

1. A morbid fear of robbers or thieves or of being attacked by a robber or a thief: Such a harpaxophobia motivates many to have elaborate burglar-alarm systems at their homes and businesses and several locks on their doors.

A strong dislike of young people or youth: The elderly lady, afflicted with hebephobia, also termed ephebiphobia, avoided as much contact as possible with teenagers because she thought that the type of music they listened to was awful and because they dressed in a sloppy manner!

An illogical or exaggerated fear of having pleasure: Some people suffering from hedonophobia feel guilty about enjoyable emotions, such as happiness or delight, or experiencing pleasing sensations, which might be due to their cultural or religious background.

An irrational fear of sunlight or an abnormal sensitivity to the effects of sunlight resulting in a strong aversion to being exposed to the sun: In some cases, heliophobia may be influenced by the many warnings that people hear about skin cancer which can happen by being in the sun.

A reference to someone who has an exaggerated avoidance of the sun's rays: Linda, according to the doctor's explanation that she was heliophobic, definitely shunned the bright beams of light by wearing dark glasses or shades at all times and even stayed inside whenever the Sol was out.

An exaggerated aversion of Greek or Latin words, of complex scientific terminology, or of pseudo-scientific terms: Benjamin was quite poor in his Latin class at school and avoided everything written in either Latin or Greek, and since this hatred continued for many years, he decided he had a case of having Hellenologophobia.

An irrational dislike of the Greeks: The Johnson family evidently had had bad experiences with some Hellenic people, and because of their Hellenophobia, decided not to spend their vacation in Ellas, the country in the southern section of the Balkan Peninsula.

A morbid fear of a worm infestation: Since Judy's cat had parasitic worms once, she was terribly afraid of these soft-bodied animals, and took her tabby to the veterinarian much more than was necessary and later found out that she had a case of helminthophoba!

An individual who is intensely frightened of worms: Ever since Janet was a youngster, she had an extreme hatred of helminths, a parasitic worm like a roundworm or tapeworm, and after reading about this in a scientific book, she was sure she was a helminthophobic.